Number of construction projects on the rise in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: The number of construction projects in the second quarter of 2013 (2Q13) grew to 9,392 from 8,719 quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), according to the Department of Statistics in its latest quarterly construction statistics report.

Year-on-year (y-o-y), the construction sector saw an increase of 7.7% in the number of projects, with values increasing to RM22.7 billion in 2Q13, from RM20.6 billion in 1Q13. Total value rose 10.2% in 2Q and increased 11.6% y-o-y.

In the quarter, civil engineering took the largest share of projects with 35.3%, followed by non-residential buildings (31.4%), residential buildings (28.5%) and special trade (4.8%).

Selangor has the highest value of construction work in the quarter with RM5.53 billion, or 24.3%. Johor came in second with RM3.29 billion (14.5%), Kuala Lumpur with RM3.28 billion (14.5%), Sarawak with RM2.3 billion (10.1%) and Perak with RM1.51 billion (6.7%). The contributions by these five states amounted to 70.1% of the overall value.

The private sector continues to dominate in terms of construction activity, recording an increase to 69.9% in 2Q from 68.9% in 1Q. This is followed by the public sector with 19.4%, and public corporations with 11%.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on August 16, 2013.